I write this inspired by an article in the NYTimes about a young Briton who grew up with austerity and is reading Marx and is a communist and/or socialist.
What I know about Marxism suggests to me it is full of common sense and goodness and ideals and hope... and it has not been successful as many hoped. Probably because of wars, competition with capitalist systems, power, greed, bad luck, and perhaps serious inconsistencies with the ideals of individualist human nature vs collective collaboration and sharing in community. AND some basic misunderstandings and bad actors, i.e. leaders who took advantages for themselves!
To begin -- in my opinion no one should worry about basic food, shelfer, clothing, education, and health. Competition for such basics is unnecessary except for leaders who will find power in controlling the distribution of those basics. And power corrupts... always.
So here is my story... I was never one to stretch myself through debt (mortgages, big car loans) or have boats, vacation homes, even nice clothes, art, etc... ? I was pretty frugal and my expenses where low and also as you will read... shared... and somewhat guaranteed.
Recently I called upon colleagues to do something to help people suffering under the "partial government shutdown" because they lived from paycheck to paycheck. In other words - they had little in the way of savings or any ????? to tide them over the many weeks of not getting a paycheck. As I called upon these people, many of whom much wealthier then I, I think, and around my age... some younger, some older... working people and retired people... I noted: I never lived paycheck to paycheck... Or at least I never thought I had and here is my story.
First, I grew up in a stable nuclear family (i.e. no divorce even considered) to parents who had gone through the Great Depression of the 1930's. My parents had suffered anxiety, I think, and one thing they did was protect their children from financial worries. I know there were some. I know they lived careful austere life. We did not own a home and that was a big deal, I think. They did not discuss money. They always put plenty of food on the table. My mother did not work til I was in college. I grew up in the 1950's and went to college in 1967 to a state university where the tuition was nil and the costs of living were ... well... whatever they were since they paid for it....
When I finished school I wandered a bit without paying any rent and officially was based out of my parents apartment. I lived very frugally and at one point lived daily and nicely off of my tips from driving a taxicab in NYC and paid my rent and saved some money from my weekly paychecks from the cab company. A sweet arrangement. Later I worked for a while with the US Post Office and after getting a degree in Library Science entered my profession working essentially and generally for the state so my jobs paid ok, had very good benefits, AND I got married early on so shared expenses with a partner. The sharing of expenses was something I generally maintained even after divorces and breakups. And finally I found myself married and I entered retirement and then I divorced and then found I had a nice defined benefits pension plus savings since I never lived high on the hog... or got into debt. NICE...
I DO recommend a partnership for living and equality of the partners... OR at least... somewhat following the Marxist creed: to each according to their need/from each according to their ability... AT LEAST TO PAY... so in a relationship in the middle of my life when I was making about what my partner was earning ... but a little less.. we shared basic expenses based on creating a pot from a percentage of our gross income... One of several ways people share expenses. I also was fortunate enough to have owned/bought on mortgage a home soon after getting married and then being able to afford a second home while renting out the first. This dual home ownership was very good when we divorced as one of us got one house and the other got the second house... and the children we had helped keep things generally amiable.
Buying a home ... and having a mortgage was one key to my financial success. After having a home with a mortgage I refinanced that home a few times. Almost every time I took money out of the equity that had built up and the payments made either went down because interest rates improved or at the very least in each case the monthly payments were easily paid by my paycheck or pension check. I believe only a major catastrophic breakdown of the entire financial system of the country and world would cause me trouble. I have good health insurance, the steady income, and nice savings. So - what me worry?
YES I WORRY... about the sanity and safety and justice that others live with or without. No one should have to worry about where their next meal will come from. No one should have to be homeless. No one should be uneducated or unhealthy. Basics must be available to all EASILY and readily.
Also what should be universally available is good, useful, meaningful work. I believe as Eric Hoffer believed that there is dignity in work and people want to work so earn their dignified. One way to achieve this dignity is to serve for a couple of years in something like the Civilian Conservation Corps or some other public works program which benefits all. Even a couple of years in the Armed Services would count, of course. After such service all basics are therefore earned along with personal dignity ... and future chosen work is extra and personal and voluntary. Staying the the Armed Services or the Conservation Corps would be options. A teacher corps would be option, after appropriate training. The arts and culture would be possibilities as would scholarship, science, medicine, engineering, etc, etc...
Oh what a world we could have!
Ideally\
The problem... the rub is... to get there we need leaders and organizers and visionaries... who will step aside quickly instead of doing the historically natural thing which is to hang onto their "top" positions and take extra for their "special" efforts. OY!
